The present invention relates to an improved apparatus for the storage and retrieval of articles of manufacture of the type normally stored in carriers, and more particularly to a full-height carrier for a top-drive horizontal carousel.
Horizontal rotary carousels for the transportation of metal carriers are well known in the art. Normally, such carousels have either top or bottom drive units which, via a transmission device, move the carriers, by way of upper and lower support assemblies, along upper and lower guide assemblies. The movement of the carriers follows a generally elliptical path which is defined by the shape of guide assemblies, which is common in carousels of this type.
The guides typically have a pair of semicircular regions mounted at respective ends of a substantially straight section. In the top drive units at least one of the semicircular regions includes means to transfer motion from the drive unit to the support assemblies associated with the respective carrier. This transfer means normally includes at least one notched turntable or sprocket which is rotatably engaged to the drive unit.
The upper support assemblies each generally include a carrier sleeve which the notched turntable engages to force the support assemblies and the carriers associated therewith to move along the guides. The carrier sleeve is adapted to receive a vertically extending pin which mounts the carrier on the support assembly. The individual pins are interconnected by pivotal link members, ensuring uniform movement of the support assemblies and associated carriers. Below the pivotal link members each pair of pins is connected to a supporting bar to support an associated carrier. In this way, motion is imparted equally upon each support assembly via the pivotal link members while the associated carriers have a range of motion independent from each other, which is necessary at the semicircular regions of the guides.
The bottom of each carrier is typically provided with a lower support assembly consisting of simple wheel or caster mechanisms which ride on the outwardly directed face of the lower guide to keep the carrier in correct vertical alignment. The wheels are attached, in pairs, to a mounting bar at the bottom surface of the carrier. The weight of the carrier is carried almost exclusively by the upper support assemblies, the wheels merely being provided to ensure correct alignment of the carrier.
Thus, in the conventional carousel the carrier is above the lower guide and below the upper guide. In essence, the carrier is trapped between the upper and lower guides of the carousel, and the size of the carrier itself is limited by the space between the upper and lower guides.
Therefore, conventional carousels of this type suffer from the disadvantage that the areas above the upper guide and below the lower guide are normally not utilized by the carriers because of structural and spatial constraints. Thus, these carousels are incapable of using the available space in the most efficient and convenient way possible, contrary to the express purpose of devices of this type.